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A Renwal kit that hasn’t been seen in six decades is the 1/1200 U.S. Navy Combat Fleet. Atlantis Models has re-released this set as the US Combat Task Force Fleet. It’s a set of 12 U.S. Navy ships in use when the model kit was first made. Many of the ships were WWII survivors; some such as the aircraft carrier Hornet and guided missile cruiser Canberra represent WWII-era ships that had been substantially retrofit and upgraded for their 1950’s incarnations.
Our historical material supplementing this review includes clips from declassified documents and images of newspaper front pages from 1962. |
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The USS Hornet is the biggest ship in the set at nearly 9" long. The airplanes are Skywarriors!
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The USS Washington was a North Carolina Class Battleship. Note that the 16" guns and 5" guns are separate pieces. These little ships have quite a bit of detail.
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The Canberra was a guided missile heavy cruiser. This model is nearly 7" long in 1/1200 scale.
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At top is the LST Eddy County with a hull length of 3-1/4". The Dewey was a guided missile frigate. Hull length just over 5".
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All ship models in the set are depicted with full hulls. Some modelers like to display these small-scale ships waterline-style on a sea-base and it might take intermediate skills to cut or sand down the lower hulls for those builders so inclined. The original version of the kit came with a vacuum-formed ocean base where the finished ships could be inserted in slots made to fit the ships up to the waterline. Atlantis considered including this base with the kit, but it likely would have added a few dollars to the kit price and they ultimately decided to include the printed “sea base” on the bottom of the box that can be used to display your finished models. It’s a simple cost-saver that keeps the retail price low. Dividing the $39.99 retail cost of the set yields $3.33 per model. You simply can’t find 1/1200 ships at those low prices anywhere nowadays. Maybe you could 30-40 years ago, but certainly not in 2022!
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Here's a closeup look at the top of that LST, Eddy County, LST-759. The detailing is very nice for a 3" model! Over 1000 LST's were built during WWII. To come up with enough names, the Navy decided to name them after counties in the United States. There are over 3000 counties in the USA!
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The USS Rankin was an attack-cargo ship. 4.5" long here. Note that eight individual tank landing craft (LCT's) are included!
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The attack transport ship Navarro and destroyer Barry. These models are about 4.5" and 4" respectively.
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On this sprue can be found the destroyer The Sullivans and USS Patrick Henry, both about 3.75" long. Many aspects of the Patrick Henry were still top-secret when the set debuted.
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Like the Canberra, The Galveston (hull at top) was a WWII ship that was given a second life in this case as a guided missile light cruiser. Hull length is just over 6". Destroyer escort William T. Powell is at bottom. At just a hair over 3" in length, it's the smallest ship in the set.
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The superstructure of the USS Washington battleship. Porthole and hatch details can be seen; not at all bad for 1/1200 scale!
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Most of the decals are used for the USS Hornet's flightdeck markings. Fleet numbers for the rest of the ships are also included.
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This is a very cool set of U.S. Navy ships; it’s a collection-in-a-box! It’s great to have it back after a long absence. 2Modeler.com enthusiastically gives this model four thumbs up and the average ship model builder, gamer, history buff, collector, or fan of unusual model kits will love this model!
SPECIAL THANKS TO ATLANTIS MODELS FOR PROVIDING THIS MODEL KIT FOR US TO REVIEW AND ENJOY! |
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Capital ships such as aircraft carriers and battleships would rarely if ever cruise alone. Atlantis Models’ US Navy Task Force Set roughly corresponds to what one would consider a Carrier Battle Group or Carrier Strike Group. An aircraft carrier needs to maximize space for air operations and it is left to other ships in the battle group to provide vital defense and support functions in a task force environment. Cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and supply ships provide protection from potential air or sea threats and keep the task force stocked, maintained, and fueled. Often, one or more attack submarines will be assigned to stealthily shadow the group from beneath the ocean’s surface.
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Aurora Models had its own Navy set composed of a collection of models previously sold separately. BoxArtDen image.
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Revell also did some ship mini-collections. Again, these ships were from their regular kit line, so they were bigger models, and not in the same scale. Revell of Germany re-released a version of this set as part of their collectible 50-year anniversary series. These are BoxArtDen images.
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In this set from a few years later, their USS Boston, actually a conversion of their USS Helena Baltimore Class cruiser, appears as the Canberra. The Ranger is their spectacular Forrestal-Class kit and the Forest Sherman is included, which is now available as a current release from Atlantis Models.
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The USS Washington was a North Carolina-class battleship. Atlantis Models makes the North Carolina in 1/500 scale, also a former Renwal kit. This is a much larger model than the Washington included in this naval set. Brand-new at the outset of WWII, the Washington was quickly sent to Europe to protect convoys supplying the Soviet Union. With minimal need for its capabilities there, it was transferred to the Pacific War where it earned a total of 13 battle stars for its participation in many campaigns. As the Renwal U.S. Navy set was being made, the Washington was part of the Navy’s reserve fleet and under consideration for modernization. The cost was deemed too great and in 1961, the ship was sold for scrap. Her sister ship, the North Carolina, has been preserved as a museum ship that can be seen in Wilmington, NC.
All the Atlantis boxtops you see in this article are linked to the kits at Atlantis-Models.com. Check them out! |
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The Hornet was an Essex Class aircraft carrier commissioned in late 1943 when it immediately assumed combat duties in the Pacific War. State-of-the-art during WWII with many additional ships completed after war’s end, the Essex class carriers became a significant part the U.S. Navy’s post-war operations receiving many upgrades such as an angled carrier deck as seen on the Atlantis version of the 1/1200 Hornet. The Hornet was the recovery ship for Apollo 11, the first spacecraft that landed men on the Moon in 1969. It is a museum ship today in Alameda, CA. Atlantis Models has a 1/500 Ticonderoga, a modernized Essex class carrier in 1/500 scale, same as the North Carolina.
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The Canberra was a WWII-era Baltimore Class heavy cruiser from 1943 later upgraded to a Boston Class missile cruiser. It participated in the naval blockade during the tense Cuban Missile Crises and later served in Vietnam. The ship was decommissioned in 1970. Atlantis Models offers a WWII-configured Baltimore Class cruiser, the USS Pittsburgh. This former Revell kit is in 1/490 scale, so it’s very close scale-wise to the 1/500 Ticonderoga and North Carolina! You'll be surprised at how many of the kits in the Atlantis US Combat Task Force Fleet you can get in 1/500 scale or close to it!
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The USS Galveston is another guided missile cruiser converted from an earlier class of ship, in this case a Cleveland Class light cruiser. These ships originally entered service starting early in WWII. The Galveston was still being fitted out at the end of WWII but became the lead ship for conversion as a Talos guided missile cruiser. The Talos was designed as a surface-to-air missile but also proved effective in anti-ship applications. We've attached a BoxArtDen image of Renwal's USS Galveston in 1/500 scale. It was last released by Revell in 2016 as the USS Springfield, a sister ship. Maybe this tooling set is now with Atlantis, so perhaps we'll see this one again some day.
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The Dewey was a Farragut-Class guided missile destroyer that was state-of-the-art when the Renwal U.S. Navy Ships Set was first made. Commissioned in 1959, it served the US Navy until 1990. In addition to Terrier Missiles, the ship had an 8-tube ASROC (Anti Submarine Rocket) launcher and was capable of launching Mk 32 torpedoes. Renwal actually made the USS King, a 1/500 Farragut Class guided missile destroyer. Revell released the kit a few years ago. Perhaps Atlantis now has the molds and may release it sometime in the future.
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The Barry is a Postwar Forest Sherman-Class destroyer. The Barry became a sub-class lead ship for an anti-submarine mission upgrade. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Barry stalked a Soviet submarine and performed surveillance on a Soviet merchant vessel, intimidating it away from the area quarantined against Soviet shipping. The Barry became a museum ship in 1984 and was initially a popular tourist attraction in the Washington DC area. However, during the 1990’s, visits declined and by 2016, maintenance expenses could not be justified. Unfortunately, the Barry was sent to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for scrapping. Atlantis Models has the USS Forest Sherman, a sister ship to the Barry. It’s a former Revell kit and nicely detailed in 1/320 scale.
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The destroyer USS The Sullivans was a Fletcher Class vessel that entered Navy duty in 1943 during WWII. The ship was named after five brothers who all died on November 13, 1942 when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Guadalcanal. USS The Sullivans earned 11 battle stars in WWII and the Korean War. The Sullivans was kept busy after WWII as a training ship but received assignments to assist with Project Mercury, The Cuban Missile Crisis, and investigations of the USS Thresher accident. She served through 1965 and was preserved as a museum ship in Buffalo, NY. Fletcher Class ships are popular model kit subjects. One of Revell’s early ship models was a Fletcher Class destroyer. This is another kit that Atlantis might be able to release at some point in the future
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USS William T. Powell was a Buckley Class destroyer escort. This is the smallest of the ships in the Atlantis Combat Task force fleet at just over three inches long. These small ships could be built quickly and in great numbers. For example, from the time the William T. Powell first had its keel laid down to commissioning into action was just seven months. An Essex Class carrier took at least 2-3 times as long. Main armament was a trio of 3-inch guns capable of firing anti-aircraft, armor piercing, or illumination flare “star shell” rounds. The Buckley class ships were potent in the antisubmarine role making them effective at protecting a carrier task force or merchant ship convoy. Revell actually made a Buckley Class destroyer escort kit in 1/250 scale. Perhaps someday soon, we’ll see this model again in an Atlantis box.
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LST’s (Landing Ship, Tank) are a key component of a sea-to-land invasion force. Their important mission with the U.S. Navy makes them an appropriate part of the Atlantis Combat Task Force Fleet model kit. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the LST is that prior to WWII, the ship type did not even exist. By the end of the war, over 1000 had been built. It is perhaps best known for its role in Operation Overlord, The Battle of Normandy where 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel into continental Europe on June 6, 1944. The virtue of the landing ship was that it was able to quickly disembark fully armed troops onshore with no dock or pier needed. Many LST’s were named after counties in the United States; both New Mexico and North Dakota had an Eddy County.
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The USS Rankin was a Tolland Class attack cargo ship that would be part of a flotilla supporting a land invasion. From keel-laying to commission for duty, the Rankin was made ready in just four short months late in WWII. It played a vital wartime logistics role transporting items like landing craft and ammunition to forward campaign areas (your 1/1200 USS Rankin model has eight landing craft on its deck). During the Battle of Okinawa, the ship offloaded ammunition in the midst of constant air raids by the Japanese including attempted kamikaze attacks. The Rankin was also called to duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was designated as a backup recovery ship supporting the Apollo 8 circumlunar flight in 1968. The ship was finally decommissioned in the early 1970’s. Renwal actually made a Tolland Class attack cargo ship in 1/500 scale.
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The Navarro was a Haskell-Class amphibious assault ship that would play a key role in a ship-to-shore troop deployment. The ship could carry and deploy 25 landing craft with a total capability of disembarking 1500 fully armed troops to a beach. The Navarro was finished just in time to participate in the Battle of Okinawa in the South Pacific late in WWII. Navarro was recommissioned in 1950 and participated in a number of landing rehearsals. The ship landed troops during the Vietnam war, receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation award from the Secretary of the Navy for her actions. The ship was finally decommissioned in 1969 and stored in the reserve fleet for possible use if needed until 1982. Revell made a Haskell-Class ship, the Montrose, also released as the Randall. It’s one of their vintage kits in 1/376 scale and could possibly be somewhere in Atlantis’ tooling stash. It’s another classic we’d like to see them do some time if they have the molds.
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The Patrick Henry was a George Washington Class ballistic missile submarine. These were the first modern ballistic missile submarines in the US Navy. They could carry 16 Polaris nuclear missiles. With overall firepower approaching up to 10 megatons of thermonuclear ordnance, the Patrick Henry represented the pinnacle of undersea deterrent weaponry when the Renwal Navy Task Force model kit was first released. Renwal released a spectacular model of the USS George Washington in 1/200 scale. It had a full interior and was bigger than Revell’s Polaris sub, which was 1/252 scale (it has a full interior as well). It is hoped that Atlantis Models has one or more of these tooling sets and we can see these models again from them some time; both are very cool models.
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For over three quarters of a century, the armored warship reigned supreme as the power of the cannon evolved into the rifled long-barrel battleship main gun. An early WWII battleship engagement of particular interest to modelers is the combined Battle of the Denmark Strait and the Hunt for the Bismarck. Nazi Germany’s new Battleship Bismarck quickly destroyed and sunk the HMS Hood on May 24, 1940. Hood had been the world’s largest battleship for twenty years after it was built. The Bismarck’s supremacy was very short lived, however. Just three days later during the Hunt for the Bismarck, the Bismarck was attacked by obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplanes flying off the HMS Invincible.
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Check out our review of this kit. Included is a lot of material about the Battle of the Ironclads and the development about the first armored ships to face each other in battle.
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Battleships were still an important part of combat operations in WWII with their big guns capable of heavy offshore bombardment. The USS Iowa’s guns could send a 1900-pound round 24 miles inland. Atlantis Models makes a big, 20" USS Iowa, formerly a classic Revell kit in 1/535-scale from a tooling set that was unused by Revell for decades. At posting, they are preparing to release the Monogram 16” Iowa Class battleship Wisconsin, another kit that hasn’t seen the light of day in a while. The scale of this kit is 1/665 and coincidentally, the length of the model is the same as the diameter of the actual ship’s main guns!
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M3008 Bismarck Battleship is formerly a Monogram kit that has not been available since its first release in 1977! Monogram had a nice series of 16" ships and we're happy to see classic kits from this series available again.
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Of course the mighty Bismarck was gone before the USS Wisconsin first sailed, but the two Atlantis models from the 16" series will look great together on your shelf!
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Submarines played an important antishipping role since WWI. The infamous German U-Boats of that war played havoc with supply lines. The submarine evolved; boats like the USS Gato were effective weapons and the USS Archerfish, a newer Balao class boat, sunk the large Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, which still remains the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. Atlantis Models has the Gato, a former Lindberg kit that has its roots as one of the earliest plastic models and perhaps the earliest plastic ship model. A company called Varney actually released it initially in 1945!
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Truly a historic kit, Atlantis' Gato Fleet Submarine model actually traces its roots back to 1945!
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Nuclear power gave the submarine a powerful ability to hide underwater for extended periods. The next milestone for the technology was adding nuclear ballistic missiles. The George Washington was originally laid down as the Skipjack class attack submarine Scorpion. The Skipjack boats added the innovation of the teardrop-shaped hull with a circular cross section. This shape had superior handling underwater and could withstand deeper dives.
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We have an extensive history page on the Atlantis USS Nautilus Submarine model and the other early Nautilus sub kits that has been one of the most popular pages on our website. Don't miss it!
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Originally built as a conversion from the Skipjack attack subs, the George Washington and its sister submarines were followed by several other classes of ballistic missile submarines that increased capabilities, capacities, and stealth. Starting in the late 1970’s, the Ohio Class submarines were built and they currently represent the U.S. fleet of ballistic missile-firing subs.
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We also have an extensive history/review page on the Atlantis 1/535 USS Iowa kit. Check it out!
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Nuclear power was also applied to surface ships. A destroyer and handful of cruisers were built with nuclear propulsion but their costs were prohibitive for any further development and all have been decommissioned for some years. Aircraft carriers were a different story. The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Like the Nautilus, the Enterprise doubled as a proof-of-concept vessel for the technology yet served as a fully effective front-line aircraft carrier for over half a century.
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The most amazing 1/1200-scale naval kit EVER released--and you can get it from Atlantis Models now!
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